


Clouds

by YaBoiBellabean



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 09:42:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27468922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YaBoiBellabean/pseuds/YaBoiBellabean
Summary: Even though the Peacock Miraculous has been fixed, Nathalie's condition continues to decline. Not wanting to make the same mistake he'd made with Emilie, he opted to stay by her side night after night, until he was pulled away for business in New York. Only when he was across the ocean did he realize how difficult it was to stay a night without her.
Relationships: Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur
Comments: 21
Kudos: 61
Collections: Miraculous Fanworks Anniversary 2020





	Clouds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MyMayura](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyMayura/gifts).



> This was MyMayura's prompt for the Miraculous Fanworks Anniversary Giveaway~ Thank you for the opportunity to write such a wonderful prompt.

Gabriel peered out the window of his hotel room in New York City. Charcoal clouds hung low in the sky, droplets of rain pitter-pattering against the windowpane. Gabriel pressed his hand to the cool glass, gazing out over the New York City skyline. He hoped business would be swiftly taken care of. Obtaining the Eagle Miraculous would bring him one step closer to collecting the Miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir. 

He needed their Miraculouses to make the wish. _No matter the cost,_ he told himself.

Returning Adrien’s mother to him was absolutely pertinent. The boy needed his mother. He needed to grow up with his whole family. Everything Gabriel did, he did for his son. Even if it meant that in the moment, they couldn’t spend a lot of time together. The end would justify the means.

Gabriel wanted to spend time with his son, of course. He wanted to dine together and he wanted to listen to Adrien play piano. He wanted to hear about Adrien’s day. He wanted to do normal father-son things. But then again, what did that even mean? What did fathers do with their teenage sons?

Thinking back, it felt like just yesterday that he and Emilie took their blonde toddler to the park to watch him play. But as Emilie had begun to fall ill from using the Peacock Miraculous, the playing came to an end. And as Emilie’s condition worsened, Adrien’s happy childhood also came to an end. Gabriel slowly began disconnecting from his emotions; losing Emilie would break him if he didn’t. And thus he began his descent into work. He’d detached himself from everything, from Emilie, from Adrien, from everyone. 

And Gabriel regretted it. Adrien deserved better. As had Emilie. He wasn’t at her side as her illness progressed and progressed. 

But what was he to do about any of it now? He was already so far down the rabbithole, there was no stopping. He was so close to obtaining the Miraculouses, he could taste it. With Nathalie’s help, with her at his side, there was no way that they could fail.

Involuntarily, Gabriel’s hand curled into a fist. 

Nathalie.

Gabriel wanted no more regrets.

Unlike what he’d done with Emilie, Gabriel had made it a point to stay by Nathalie’s side night after night, watching over her because he knew where this was heading. It was exactly how things progressed with Emilie. And he wanted to stop it, to prevent the tragedy from repeating itself. 

Nathalie wasn’t only his assistant. Nathalie was his friend. She’d been there with him while he grieved for his wife. She cared for Adrien and always acted in his best interest. And she stood by his side, helping him to achieve his goal of bringing Emilie back.

Which was also why she was becoming more and more ill. 

Gabriel retreated back to his bed and sat down, holding his head in his hands. He didn’t want her to have the same fate that Emilie had had. What if his wish caused him to have to choose between the two women? He loved Emilie more than anything in the world and wanted Adrien to have his mother; it was his reason to do everything he’d done. 

But could he really do that to Nathalie? She’d been there with him through thick and thin. 

_No matter the cost_ , Gabriel had thought going into this.

His confidence combined with his ambition had always made decision-making easy. Gabriel had never been one to doubt his actions. But this conundrum he presently faced made him second-guess everything. And being far away from home, from Nathalie, really grounded him. He needed to swiftly obtain the Eagle Miraculous so that he wouldn’t have to choose. 

Because the cost was higher than he ever dreamed it’d be. 

Gabriel fished his phone out of his pocket and stared at the black screen. He hadn’t heard from Nathalie all day. And it made him worry. 

He pressed his finger to the fingerprint scanner on the back of his phone and cycled through the pages on his homescreen. Would calling her be appropriate? He didn’t want to smother her, nor did he want to make her think that he was micromanaging her; Gabriel did that plenty when he was home.

What Nathalie needed was to relax. Maybe he would call her and order her to spend a day at a spa. 

Finding the pad of his thumb hovering above her contact card, he let out a sigh of frustration. Ordering her to relax fell under the micromanaging category. She was a grown woman and she could do as she wished. But even so…

Instead of tapping her name to call, he backed out of his contact list and opened his Instagram app. Adrien didn’t know that Gabriel had a personal Instagram account, let alone that Gabriel followed him. It was the only means he had to get a glimpse into Adrien’s life outside of his lessons. And while he didn’t approve of everyone that his son chose to associate with, especially that Nino kid, Gabriel was glad that his son smiled so genuinely in the photographs he took with his friends.

But he’d never tell Adrien. The only other person who knew was Nathalie. 

Nathalie. It always seemed to come back to her.

Redirecting his attention to his phone, Gabriel double-tapped Adrien’s newest photo, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Adrien had posted a selfie with that Marinette girl, Nino, and a bunch of kids he didn’t recognize. It seemed like Adrien was having a nice time and that he was safe. For all of this, he was grateful. 

He backed out of the Instagram app and opened his contacts back up. Tapping Nathalie’s picture, he stared at her number. A text message couldn’t hurt, could it? He selected the “Send a Message” button and stared at the empty bubble, unsure of what to say. 

Flicking the screen down, he found the beginning of their last conversation and read through it. It’d been a couple of days since they last spoke. 

He backed out of their messages and opened up Solitaire. Freecell. He would play a game of Freecell. It would get his mind off of Nathalie. Which is what he needed to do. Get his mind off of her. 

When had Gabriel grown so attached to her? At what point did he begin to care about her so deeply on a personal level? He’d only recently come to realize it and this trip certainly didn’t help. 

He looked at the empty bed adjacent to his. It would’ve been where she would’ve stayed, had she accompanied him. But she didn’t. And Gabriel was kicking himself for it. He should’ve ordered her to come along with him instead of asking her to stay behind and lure Ladybug and Chat Noir out of hiding. What if something had happened to her? What if she collapsed using the Peacock Miraculous while she was alone? It’d be his fault if something happened to her. And he couldn’t live with himself if something happened to her because of him.

Gabriel reminded himself that Nathalie was his assistant, his friend, his confidant even. But nothing more. He needed to purge himself of any other emotions; everything was easier when he was numb. 

He attempted to redirect his attention to his game, but to no avail. Not knowing whether or not Nathalie was okay clouded his mind, made it hard to think. He needed to focus on _why_ he was there. So it was pertinent that he stopped thinking of Nathalie. 

Not thinking about Nathalie could very well save Nathalie.

A notification interrupted his game. 

_Good evening, sir. I hope your trip has been successful thus far._

Without realizing it, Gabriel smiled.


End file.
